Chapter 54
The Drake in the breeding ground was busily tearing into the flesh of a massive Monster—it must have been feeding time.
Its overwhelming presence alone kept every Cadet frozen in place, not daring to move carelessly.
But I found myself questioning something about the creature before us—it looked much weaker than I had imagined.
Originally, a Drake was a being ranked at the very top among A-rank Monsters.
They were supposed to be creatures so violent and powerful that they earned the titles Earth’s Dragon or Tyrant.
And yet, the one before my eyes was only about the size of a small building.
The Drakes I knew should have been at least one and a half times larger than this.
At that moment, the guide began his explanation.
“Impressive, isn’t it? The Monster before you is a species called the Drake, classified as A-rank—and it’s the only one we have here at the Beast Farm.”
I raised my hand.
“A-rank Monster, and one of the most powerful among them—the Drake. How were you able to capture it?”
“Actually,” the guide replied with a smile, “this Drake, Goni, wasn’t captured. It’s been raised here at the Beast Farm since it was an egg. This year, it turns twenty.”
It even had a name.
“When Goni was born, it was so famous that it even made the news, you know? Of course, that was before any of you were born.”
That was unnecessary information, but thanks to his explanation, several of my earlier doubts began to make sense.
Despite being an A-rank Monster, it was relatively docile—and smaller in size.
The creature hadn’t yet reached full maturity.
Well, if it had been a fully grown Drake, even in the game, there’d have been no way to clear it.
In-game, the Drake boss fight had required a full party, led by Instructor Kang Jae-seok.
On average, taking down an A-rank Monster required the strength of five High-ranked Heroes.
In other words, you’d need four more Heroes like Instructor Kang Jae-seok.
Yet, I had cleared it with just him and a four-member party—meaning that this immature Drake’s power was roughly equivalent to two or three High-ranked Heroes.
Then, a Cadet raised his hand.
“I’d like to ask the Instructor something. Is there a specific strategy for taking down a Drake?”
He seemed curious why we were told how to fight other Monsters, but not this one.
Personally, I thought it was a good question—because if he hadn’t asked, I would have.
Of course, I already knew the Drake’s strategy.
But if the others, who were supposed to fight it with me, didn’t know it, that would be a problem.
Instructor Kang Jae-seok looked at the Drake for a moment, as though deep in thought, before speaking.
“The Drake’s strategy, huh? That’s a difficult question. A Drake is a subspecies of Dragon—it has exceptional resistance to both physical and magical attacks. Most attacks don’t even faze it. Its vitality is immense, too, so it’s very hard to kill. It’s one of the strongest among A-rank Monsters.”
“Then... there’s no way to beat it?”
He shook his head.
“If that were true, that thing wouldn’t be here at the Beast Farm. The Drake’s weakness lies in its legs—they can’t bear too much concentrated weight. And although it has high resistance, it’s ironically more vulnerable to attacks that surpass its resistance. It’s as if, being born strong, it’s cautious against anything stronger than itself.”
That matched perfectly with the game’s mechanics.
In-game, once Instructor Kang Jae-seok broke through its defenses, the Player would exploit the opening to deal damage.
The Instructor continued,
“And since it’s a subspecies of Dragon, it’s extremely weak against weapons forged from Dragon byproducts—or Dragon Slayers imbued with Dragon’s blood.”
That was exactly why I’d said Helena was more important than Park Siwoo.
Helena possessed the power of a Dragon—and that power was lethal to a Drake, being a Dragon’s subspecies.
Though she seemed to consider that power a curse, if she could awaken it during this event, she could regain her confidence and awaken to her true potential, rivaling Park Siwoo’s.
In the game, too, this event’s difficulty varied drastically depending on the Player’s affinity with her.
With Helena in the party, the perceived difficulty was cut nearly in half.
I turned slightly to glance at Helena, who was standing beside me.
She was staring at the Drake as if mesmerized, completely captivated.
A strange light shimmered within her mysterious eyes, her pupils quivering as if they might narrow at any moment.
Her Dragon power seemed to resonate with the Drake’s own.
I reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
Startled, she let out a cute little yelp and looked at me.
“Hyah! Wh-what was that for, all of a sudden!”
“It’s time to leave. You seemed lost in thought.”
“Ah...”
Our viewing time was short, and since other classes had to see it too, we—who had entered first—had to leave early.
Blushing with embarrassment, Helena hurried toward the exit.
Thus, we ended our brief viewing and stepped outside.
Park Siwoo exhaled deeply, as if releasing a held breath.
“Wow... hard to believe that thing isn’t even fully grown. The pressure it gives off is insane.”
“If you ever see an adult one, you’ll swallow those words real quick.”
“You talk like you’ve actually seen one.”
Well... I had—both in the game and in this world.
More precisely, in the inherited memories.
Pandemonium had all sorts of lunatics—and among them were maniacs who even commanded Monsters.
For reference, that lunatic was one of the top executives standing at the very peak of Pandemonium—an individual who would inevitably appear around the mid-stage of the scenario.
Of course, I couldn’t reveal that, so I brushed it off casually.
“As if that’d ever happen.”
“Well, a Drake Dungeon has never appeared in Korea before, so yeah. It’s scary, but... I kinda want to see it again.”
I swallowed back the urge to tell him that he’d soon get to see one firsthand.
Instructor Kang Jae-seok gathered us together.
“That concludes this morning’s activity. Let’s give a round of applause to our guide for their time.”
“Waaah!”
“Our afternoon session begins at 1 PM, so grab a quick lunch before then and regroup.”
With that, everyone dispersed to eat lunch.
Park Siwoo turned to me.
He was holding a lunchbox in his hand.
“Should we go eat too?”
“Sure, why not. But where?”
“I know a good restaurant nearby. They serve dishes made from Beast meat—how about that? It’s quite popular, but if we go now, we should be able to get seats.”
Wait a second.
That meant Helena hadn’t brought a lunchbox?
Feeling something off, I asked,
“You didn’t bring your own lunch?”
“With so many great restaurants here, why would I? Don’t tell me you guys actually brought lunchboxes?”
I slowly turned my head toward Park Siwoo—so sharply that my neck cracked.
His eyes darted around nervously.
Then Helena delivered the finishing blow.
“We’re from a boarding school. Who still does something as old-fashioned as bringing a lunchbox?”
The moment those words left her mouth, Park Siwoo turned away and bolted from the spot.
The control room for the A-rank Monster, the Drake.
There, a Demon disguised as one of the caretakers—Boris—smiled faintly.
Before his eyes stood the only A-rank Monster ever bred within the country—the Drake.
His epithet was Demon of Madness.
His specialty was stirring chaos and conflict by tampering with people’s emotions and minds, hiding among crowds to spread agitation.
And today, that Drake was his target.
The mere thought of making such a massive creature run amok thrilled him to the core.
Since the great beast had been safely raised under human supervision since birth, it lacked the wariness and strength of a fully wild Monster.
Because of that, someone like him could freely manipulate such a powerful Drake.
He could make that colossal being move according to his will.
Such an opportunity would never come again.
His whole body trembled with excitement.
His eyes slowly began to glow crimson.
At that moment, someone tapped him on the back.
“Hey, could you handle monitoring the Drake for a bit? I need to check on the other Monsters.”
Boris met the employee’s gaze.
His crimson eyes gleamed—and the other man’s eyes turned red as well.
Confirming that, Boris smiled and replied,
“Of course. I’ll take care of the monitoring.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Even though the man’s eyes had turned red—clear evidence of a Demon—the employee failed to notice and walked away.
The seed had been planted.
Boris’s ability allowed him to manipulate the emotions of anyone who met his gaze—and to spread his power like a virus by using them as hosts.
Even if he simply waited, his influence would gradually spread, soon enveloping the entire Beast Farm.
All he needed now was a little time.
Everything would proceed according to Pandemonium’s will.
‘If this mission goes well... I’ll ascend to a High-ranked Demon.’
It was Berid, one of Pandemonium’s senior executives and one of its top leaders, who had personally made him the offer.
To become part of the great undertaking—to prepare for that day.
To rise beyond merely being an Upper Demon and gain greater power, reaching ever higher together.
Boris had taken his hand.
After all, he had believed that this was the opportunity of a lifetime.
He moved quietly, heading toward the restricted area.
Unlike other Monsters, the Drake possessed formidable resistance, so he needed to exert his power directly.
As he approached the restricted zone—specifically, the Drake’s living habitat—a guard stopped him.
“This area connects directly to the Drake’s habitat. Only authorized personnel may enter. Please conduct your monitoring from outside.”
“I understand.”
As he said that, his eyes once again emitted a crimson glow.
The guard’s expression twisted.
“Red eyes! You’re a Demon!”
The guard reached for his weapon and tried to attack Boris, but it was already too late—Boris’s power had taken hold.
The guard’s eyes turned red, and Boris whispered,
“I am not your enemy. Your enemies are right before you.”
“Wh-what are you—”
Suddenly, rage surged from deep within the guard’s chest.
He was consumed with hatred, a bloodlust to slaughter every “enemy” clouding his sight.
He frantically looked around for the cause of his anger—but the Demon was already gone.
All that remained in his vision were prey he had to kill.
Unable to suppress his murderous impulse, the guard lunged toward his comrades.
“U-Uaaaaagh!”
“Wh-what the hell! Are you crazy?!”
“Snap out of it!”
“Help!”
And with chaos spreading behind him, Boris calmly slipped away, the stolen security card in his hand.